A Stag In Need
by Lily Anna Evans Potter
Summary: The fact that Lily Evans hates James Potter is widely known, but will she change her mind about him when he becomes seriously ill because of one rejection too many? Will the Flower swallow her pride and support the Stag when he needs her most?


**Disclaimer: I own only this plot; the rest belongs to J.K Rowling!**

It was late one night at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Most of the castle's occupants had been asleep for hours, blissfully unaware of the thundershower raging outside. The only person in sight was a teenage boy with messy black hair, which under normal circumstances would stick up in all directions, but which was currently plastered to his head, due to the fact that it was sopping wet. This boy's name was James Potter, and even to the untrained eye, it was painfully obvious that he was utterly miserable. It was clear that he was out there to try and numb the pain of the rejection and loss he had suffered.

After standing in the pouring rain for approximately two hours, he dragged himself back to the Gryffindor common room, unseen due to the aid of his Invisibility Cloak. Upon arrival in said room, he collapsed in an armchair by the fire, feeling miserable, exhausted and rather ill, courtesy of the rain shower. For a while, he simply sat staring into the glowing embers of the fireplace, reflecting that going outside in the current weather had probably not been the best idea.

It was no help that he was completely useless as far as Heat spells were concerned and that he didn't want to go and change, for fear of waking his roommates. So he sat there, shivering violently and hoping that he would be able to doze off soon. It was an hour later when he finally fell asleep, feeling worse than ever and firmly resolving to visit Madam Pomfrey the next morning.

Meanwhile, in the girls' dormitory upstairs, Lily Evans awoke with a start. She shuddered at the nightmare she'd been having, before groggily pulling back the curtain surrounding her bed and reaching for her luminous alarm clock. It was only 2 o'clock in the morning, with a groan she climbed back into bed and was just about to shut her hangings, when her best friend, Alice Prewett, spoke up sleepily from the neighboring bed; "Lil, are you okay?". Lily swore she had forgotten what a light sleeper Alice was.

With a yawn, Lily replied sarcastically; "Yeah, I just had a nightmare about a stalker by the name of Potter, I'm absolutely fine." Looking at Alice's bed intently, she noticed that her friend was sitting up now, with her own hangings pulled back, the better to reason with her. Apparently Alice had sensed that her stubborn friend was about to start cursing the mere name of James Potter into next week, because she said firmly "Give the guy a break Lils, do you have any idea how much he loves you?"

"Yeah, enough to stalk me even in my dreams" replied Lily bitterly, angry that she lost her chance to rant about James. She was mildly surprised therefore, when Alice shook her head and said impatiently; "No, damn it Lily, he loves you enough to be miserable when you turn him down, just like anyone else! The last time you rejected him was one time too many, didn't you notice how he didn't even smile when we won the Quidditch Cup last week? Or has it still not sunk in that he is a human being with feelings?"

After a stunned silence Lily retorted; "Yeah, well that doesn't necessarily mean I had anything to do with his misery!" To her dismay, Alice responded; "One second, I need to show you something." Curiously, Lily watched as Alice bent down and rummaged in her trunk for a good five minutes, before straightening up with a "Daily Prophet" clutched in her hand. When her friend sat down next to her, Lily leaned in to see what article Alice so desperately wanted to show her and realized that she had stopped at the page which listed Voldemort's latest victims. Her eyes widened in shock when she read the two names which Alice was pointing at: Louisa and Harold Potter.

Folding up the newspaper again, Alice turned to her friend and said quietly; "So Lily, now you know, you aren't the only reason why James has been so down lately, but I'm willing to bet your continuous rejection hasn't helped him feel any better! A word of caution as well, yesterday in Advanced Muggle Studies, Remus told me that Sirius is really mad at you for hurting his best friend _again_, so don't be surprised if he gives you a piece of his mind tomorrow."

After a minute, during which Lily seemed to find her feet very fascinating, she looked into Alice's eyes and wondered how the girl had become a Gryffindor, everything she had just said rang so true, with that wisdom she ought to have been a Ravenclaw in Lily's opinion. Alice smiled at her, the moment she saw the regret and guilty realization in her friends eyes, she felt confident that Lily would apologize the next day.

The next morning, Lily's alarm clock went off promptly at half past seven. Normally she was one of the first people to get out of bed, but now she groaned, hit the snooze button and rolled over to try and get back to sleep, not even realizing that she was the only one still in bed. She was very startled to find the dormitory completely deserted when she awoke again half an hour later. Hurriedly, she jumped out of bed and dressed at the speed of light, cursing under her breath. In her hassled condition, nothing could have prepared her for the sight that awaited her downstairs in the common room.

She was halfway down the stairs, when Sirius' voice carried up to where she stood, making her stop short; he sounded positively furious. "Alice, I DON'T CARE IF SHE _IS_ STILL SLEEPING; SHE NEEDS TO SEE WHAT SHE'S DONE TO MY _BEST FRIEND_! GO GET HER _NOW_!"

Shakily, Lily continued slowly down the steps and nearly collided with Alice, who had succumbed to Sirius' yelling and was coming to fetch her. Gathering strength from Alice's quick embrace, Lily prepared herself for a tirade as she turned to face Sirius. The moment he saw her, Sirius bellowed; "EVANS!" Having expected something worse, she was able to reply quite coolly; "Yes Black, what's wrong?"

"I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT'S WRONG, YOU HEARTLESS MONSTER!" he yelled in her face. Lily blinked; clueless as to what could she possibly have done to get Sirius so worked up. In a flash, her conversation with Alice from the previous night came back to her and she must have looked guilty, because she heard Sirius mutter: "Now she remembers!" under his breath. Then, without warning, he spun around and, grabbing her wrist, pulled her through the portrait hole.

Lily winced, as he mercilessly pulled her along by the wrist and she jogged along, trying desperately to keep up with his fast pace. Finally, he stopped in front of the entrance to the hospital wing and said in a strained voice; "Look Lily, I'm sorry for yelling at you, but I'm just worried you know? It was around midnight last night, while it was just us Marauders in the common room, when James suddenly said he wanted to go for a walk. We all told him he was being stupid, that it was pouring outside, but he didn't listen, and now he's down with the flu or worse! Madam Pomfrey isn't even sure what's wrong yet."

Lily nodded understandingly and said; "Don't worry about it, really! Alice told me what happened to Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and now I feel really guilty too. I didn't exactly help James by turning him down time and again, now did I?"

Sirius laughed humorlessly; "You finally got something right there, Evans! You have no idea how much you hurt him when you turned him down in front of all of Gryffindor House last week. You ruined the victory party for the entire Quidditch team! Didn't you wonder why he disappeared just ten minutes into the celebrations, despite being our star player?"

Lily nodded absently, she remembered the occasion only too well, and as she thought about that disastrous night she felt more ashamed of herself than ever.

_ One week ago_

_The final Quidditch game of the season had been won by an ecstatic Gryffindor team. The match was played against Slytherin, which made the team even happier. The weather conditions hadn't been ideal, so they had been slightly concerned. Their worries proved pointless, as James had caught the snitch in ten minutes, giving the Gryffindors a real reason to celebrate. A roaring party was soon underway and James frequently proclaimed his happiness that evening. Apparently it wasn't meant to last, just as the party was really getting underway, Lily entered the common room. She had borrowed a thick book from the library and had every intention of going to read quietly in her dormitory, when James stopped her. "Hi Lily!" he said, with a huge grin._

_She simply glared at him; "Get out of my way Potter!" she demanded in an icy tone. He either couldn't or wouldn't take the hint. He asked her for a dance, which was the final straw, she slapped him hard. Everyone in the room looked their way in astonishment as she yelled; "Oh, grow up and get it into your thick head, I HATE YOU JAMES POTTER! Ignoring the hurt look in his eyes, she turned and ran upstairs where she collapsed on her bed, positively fuming. When her temper had cooled down, she returned to the party where she was met only by angry glares from all of James' fan girls. Needless to say, although James was nowhere in sight, Alice was the only one who actually spoke to her for the rest of the evening and as she made her way up to bed that night, she was almost certain she heard muffled sobs coming from the boys' dormitory across the landing._

Before Lily knew it, Sirius had pushed the infirmary doors open and entered, motioning for her to follow him. With a resigned sigh she entered the room, closing the door behind her. She was slightly surprised to see Remus sitting up in one of the beds, reading a book. It became evident fairly quickly, that Sirius was as well; "Why did you stay up here, Moony? I thought you said you'd help Prongs to get here, and then be back!"

Remus looked up and sighed, honestly sometimes Sirius could be so clueless! "The full moon is tomorrow night, Pads! I just feel kind of dizzy because of that, so I thought I'd rest for a while. Relax, it's nothing serious!"

Before Sirius could say anything in reply, Madam Pomfrey bustled into the room, frowning slightly; "Mr. Black if you cannot keep your voice down, I'm going to have to ask you to leave! Need I remind you, that it is _your _friend who needs to rest?"

Sirius nodded quickly, the matron's words had reminded him of why he had come to the hospital wing in the first place. He was about to ask about James when Lily pushed him aside and asked the Healer; "Madam Pomfrey, what's wrong with James?" It surprised Sirius to hear such fear and concern in her voice, who was this girl and what had she done with Lily Evans? He jerked out of these insane musings, just in time for Madam Pomfrey's diagnosis.

"Potter is lucky he got nothing more than a bad case of the flu and quite a high temperature" she explained, to the immense relief of Sirius, Remus and Lily. They weren't too thrilled to learn that he was currently in need of not only rest but isolation as well, though they knew it was the best way for him to get better and for them to say healthy as well. With that Sirius and Lily left for their classes, after leaving Remus with strict instructions to let them know when James woke up.

Six hours later, James was still out like a light. Remus gazed at his cubicle sadly. It was obvious that he wouldn't be able to join them in the forest the next night, making it the first time, in the two years since his friends had become Animagi for him, that one of them would be missing the action.

This worried him slightly, he wasn't sure that Padfoot and Wormtail could handle the werewolves' aggression without the stags help. Making a mental note to discuss the issue with Sirius later on, he lay back and tried to take a quick nap. Pre-transformation jitters were irritatingly exhausting!

Half an hour later, he awoke to the distant sounds of the students going to lunch, and crossed his fingers, in the hope that Sirius would pop by for a visit first. Luckily, that's exactly what he did, with a sigh of relief Remus beckoned to his friend, so that they could quietly discuss the issue at hand. Needless to say, the fact that he had expected Sirius to argue with him didn't make it any easier to hear his friends' stubborn tone of voice.

They began to argue, not realizing how loud their voices had become, until they heard a weak moan coming from behind the curtains which screened James from view. They both shut their mouths abruptly, and Sirius ran to fetch Madam Pomfrey from her office.

James awoke very suddenly, drenched in cold sweat and shivering despite his warm and cozy covers. It took him a few minutes to register that he wasn't in the Gryffindor common any longer, which was where he was sure he had fallen asleep. Soon after, he realized that his skull felt like it was going to crack; it was pounding painfully inside his head. This probably wasn't helped by the raised voices nearby, although he didn't really feel up to protesting against the noise, he gave a pathetic little moan to try and shut the voices up. Surprisingly though, the tiny sound succeeded in shutting off the noises, which had felt a lot like those things Muggles called "drills" to his aching head. Then he heard hurried footsteps fade away into the distance; not long after that the screen around his bed gave a screech, as it got pulled back and a hassled Madam Pomfrey came into view.

"Potter, how do you feel?" she questioned in her usual brisk manner. Since he didn't even have the energy to lie to her, James simply croaked: "Absolutely lousy!" The matron just nodded, having felt his forehead; "I don't find that difficult to believe, your temperature is going up! I'll get a fever reducing potion for you, and then I want you to go back to sleep, alright?"

He nodded weakly, noticing vaguely how even that simple action hurt his head and then leaned back with his eyes closed. All too soon, Madam Pomfrey returned, holding a goblet full of an inky blue potion in her hands. "Here, this will make the fever go down, drink up!" She hadn't noticed his eyes become hazy and unfocused as he whispered hoarsely; "But Mum, I just had my pumpkin juice, tell Sirius to drink this glassful!"

It was a good thing the medi-witch had set the goblet down seconds before, because her shocked expression suggested she would have dropped it, in the few seconds since she'd left his bedside, James' temperature had risen so high that he'd started hallucinating. She knew she had to act fast; quickly she made him sit up straight and poured the potion down his throat. Unsurprisingly, he shivered; the potion was designed to reduce fevers and it was therefore like an icy drink. When she was sure he had swallowed every last drop, the matron tucked him in gently and went back to her office.

The peace and quiet didn't last long; soon enough Madam Pomfrey heard a panicked voice call out to her. Frowning slightly, she strolled into the ward to a worrisome sight; Remus was kneeling on the floor next to James, who was leaning over one of the buckets which were stationed near the beds and throwing up. "Good Heavens!" she cried, even as she rushed to assist the two boys. Quickly, she cast "Scourgify" on the bucket and it began cleaning itself out, then she helped an exceptionally pale James climb back into bed before pulling Remus to his feet.

"Mr. Lupin, could you tell me what happened in here since I left the room?" she questioned calmly. Remus glanced around nervously, before responding; "James just mumbled something about the potion not agreeing with him, he said he felt queasy ever since taking it! Then suddenly he's on the floor throwing up, I was only trying to help!"

If the situation had not been so serious, Madam Pomfrey would have laughed at the defiant look glowing in his eyes, but instead she simply said quietly; "I am not berating you Mr. Lupin, you did the right thing! However, the fact that Potter cannot, apparently keep the medicine down is a serious matter indeed! The hallucinations will get worse as the fever goes up and if the medicine against it does not agree with him, an alternative must be found!"

"What do you suggest, Madam Pomfrey?" he asked testily. The matron sighed, with the full moon so near at hand, she couldn't possibly expect a useful suggestion from Remus and so she held her tongue and resolved to investigate the reason why James' immune system rejected the potion, the very next day.

That night, Madam Pomfrey slept restlessly, it had been a long time since she'd had to deal with anything as severe as James' condition and she was determined to help him yet confused at the same time. In the middle of the night an idea came to her; smiling slightly to herself she noted down the idea and slept peacefully thereafter.

When the medi-witch awoke early the next morning she remembered her midnight inspiration with a jolt; after seeing to it that Remus and James were still sleeping soundly, she headed towards the headmaster's office. It wasn't long before she found herself standing in front of the intimidating stone gargoyles which guarded the office entrance. She didn't waste any time in blurting the password at them and rushing impatiently up the stairs when they moved aside.

When she reached the top she wrapped her knuckles smartly against the door, proceeding to yank it open upon the headmaster's invitation. He looked slightly surprised to see her; "What brings you here at this time, Poppy?" In a matter of minutes, she explained the situation, when she was done; her colleague's amicable smile had vanished; leaving a concerned frown in its place.

Before she could bring forth her suggestion however, he pointed out; "You did remember to consult Mr. Potter's medical chart before administering the potion, didn't you? Just this term, he brought a letter from his mother with him to school, saying he recently developed an allergy to asphodel; which, if I remember right, is a key ingredient in the fever reducer you gave him!"

The matron brought her hands up to her mouth; an aghast expression on her face. "I did this to him!" she murmured; eyes wide as the realization of her mistake sank in. After a shocked silence she recovered herself and suggested her idea; "Albus, I was thinking last night; you have already promised Severus Snape a position as the school's Potions master when he graduates, why not let him try and find a cure for Potter's ailment?"

Her colleague looked thoughtful for a moment then, sighing slightly, responded; "Poppy, that is a good idea, there is however the small matter of Mr. Snape's hatred of Potter!" The Healer looked put out for a moment, then she argued; "But surely he would help even his arch-enemy in a life or death situation!" Dumbledore looked skeptical; "Do you really think so?"

Seeing that she was adamant, he added; "If you really feel so strongly about it, I can suggest this to Mr. Snape, but I am almost certain he will not agree!" The matron shot him a grateful smile; "It will be good enough for me if you would just try, Albus!" she assured him, before consulting her pocket-watch. "Oh my, I must be getting back to the hospital wing Albus, excuse me!"

With that she turned and hurried back to the hospital, time had flown and she had to escort Remus to the Whomping Willow soon.

Meanwhile, back in the Gryffindor common room, Sirius and Lily were working on their Potions essays together. Normally Lily was a Potions whiz, but today she was struggling to concentrate. She would never admit it, but Sirius knew that she was as worried about James as he was. It was clear they were both avoiding talking about it; the silence was just becoming unbearable when she claimed she couldn't concentrate and headed to bed, leaving him to struggle with the essay.

Lily got up and went upstairs, where she found Alice combing her hair before going to bed. "What's the matter Lily?" she asked when she saw her friend looking downcast. Lily shook her head mutely, not because there was nothing the matter, but because her pride wasn't letting her put her problem into words. She, Lily Evans, was worried about James Potter; the very idea sent shivers down her spine.

Evidently her expression betrayed her thoughts, because Alice smirked slightly and said; "It's not a crime to care, Lils!" Apparently her friend could read her like a book, Alice possibly understood the guilt surging through her and more importantly, she was telling her it was alright to have a change of heart.

Even so, Lily couldn't help crying out in frustration; "I've never liked James Potter, Al! Why do I have to start caring now, at exactly the point when I'm completely helpless? A part of me is trying to fool my conscience, by saying that it's his own fault that he went out in the rain and got sick, but now another part of me which I never knew existed, is telling me that it's my fault and that he did it because I hurt him!"

Alice looked at her hysterical best friend sympathetically; "Did you go and visit him today, Lils? Personally, I think it would make him feel a whole lot better to know that you care!" Lily sighed and shook her head; "I couldn't bear the idea of seeing him now, I'm sure he hates me!" she declared.

Alice snorted; "Lily, we are talking about the same boy here, right? Because the James Potter I know could never hate you! Just go and visit him tomorrow and you'll see!" Lily nodded, today she had wanted to visit the hospital wing countless times, but her pride had never let her; ironically her feelings always seemed to change after conversations with Alice, she truly was a good friend.

Back in the common room, Sirius had given up all hope of getting his essay done that night. If Lily couldn't do it, with her skills and all, how on earth would he? With a sigh, he casually tilted his chair back on two legs and relaxed. A howl coming from the general direction of the Forest brought him back to reality not long after.

"Oh, Merlin!" he muttered, jumping up as though he'd been electrocuted. He'd completely forgotten about his argument with Moony earlier that day; until he heard some random creature call into the night at that moment. Well, if Remus seriously thought he would ever face another full moon alone, then he was crazy!

With that thought in mind, Sirius ran to fetch Peter from the dormitory and they proceeded to the grounds. That night, three of the Marauders had their usual fun, romping around the grounds, albeit a bit more cautiously than usual; also that night, Remus Lupin learned the true meaning of the saying: All for one and one for all!

The next morning found Albus Dumbledore personally making his way towards the dungeons, where the seventh years were having a Potions lesson. He had given Madam Pomfrey's proposition much thought and every time he thought about it, the whole idea made more and more sense. Indeed, since the matron was at such a loss for what to do, it seemed Severus Snape was James Potters' only hope of getting better. If the task before him had not been such an unpleasant one, the headmaster might actually have cracked a smile at the irony of the situation.

He hesitated only for a moment outside the classroom before entering; "Horace, excuse the interruption, I have an urgent matter to discuss with Mr. Snape; could he be excused from the lesson?" Horace Slughorn nodded, looking slightly puzzled; his confusion however was no match for Severus', who had followed the headmaster without a word, all the way back to the seclusion of the Heads office. When they reached it, the older man motioned for his student to take a seat, before resuming his position behind the desk.

The grave expression on his professor's usually calm face scared Severus; what on earth could have happened to make the man look so serious? The headmaster's next words were the last thing Severus expected to hear; "I require your assistance in a very grave matter, Mr. Snape!"

Breaking out of a stunned reverie, Severus responded politely; "How may I be of service, Sir?" Dumbledore sighed; the unsuspecting boy would definitely not be in such a helpful mood once he was actually informed of the problem. All of Hogwarts was aware of how much Severus and James hated each other. Suddenly the hopelessness of what he was about to do hit him in full force.

Forcing himself to remain calm the professor met Snape's curious gaze; "Well Mr. Snape, it would seem that Miss Evans had another argument with Mr. Potter at some point last week. Now, that in itself is nothing new, but it seems that this particular fight, affected Mr. Potter deeply; he went outdoors in the rain on the night before last and is currently residing in the hospital wing, with the flu and a fever.

Madam Pomfrey has confirmed his ailment; however recent events have proven that he allergic to the normal fever Potion. That brings me to my request; as you know, you have been promised a position as the school's Potions master, once you have graduated. But now, I ask this of you; would you consider making a different fever reducer for Mr. Potter?"

Severus' response, though not immediate, was extremely predictable, when it sank in what his headmaster was asking of him, he leapt to his feet, the fury blazing in his eyes; "WHAT! Headmaster, you can't be serious, this is Potter we're talking about, after all! You do know of our mutual hatred, right sir?"

Dumbledore held back another sigh with difficulty; "I am well aware of that Mr. Snape, however as Madam Pomfrey has no solution to this problem, you may well be Mr. Potter's only hope! It was her idea to suggest this to you in the first place, you know!"

There was an awkward silence, which was broken in the most disturbing way possible; as Madam Pomfrey's head suddenly emerged in the fireplace. "Oh Albus, thank heavens you're in the office, Potter has taken a turn for the worse! We must act soon, if anything is to be done, I see Mr. Snape is with you; have you asked him?"

The headmaster responded with forced calm; "Yes I have Poppy, and as I foretold, he disagrees most strongly with the whole idea!"

The matron looked shocked for a moment, before recovering herself and turning to Snape; "Well Mr. Snape, it would seem you have your mind set on not helping Potter, however I would like to try and impress upon you, the severity of the situation! Please Floo to the hospital wing, I'll be waiting!"

It was now lunchtime and Lily had finally worked up the courage to go to the hospital wing. All morning, the one thing on her mind had been how James would react to seeing her. Since she hadn't seen him since Sirius forced her to accompany him two days ago, she was unsure what to expect. Ideally she had wanted Sirius to come with her today as well, but of course the idiot had to get himself a detention at this precise time! As a result, she was forced to make her way to the infirmary alone.

She reached the hospital wing in what seemed like no time, all the while trying to convince herself that there wasn't anything to be nervous about, it was _Potter_ for pity's sake! But she couldn't shake the fear that he would hate her from the back of her mind. After trying to calm her nerves with what Alice had told her the previous night; _"The James Potter I know could never hate you!" _ Lily entered the infirmary with a nervous gulp.

Her nerves vanished instantly at the sight before her; Madam Pomfrey was standing with her back to the ward entrance, arguing with someone, although Lily couldn't make out the other person, she would know that voice anywhere. Her ex- best friend, Severus Snape, was arguing heatedly with the infuriated Healer! Luckily, he hadn't seen her yet and planning to keep it that way; Lily retreated into the shadows where she could eavesdrop without being seen.

Snippets of the conversation drifted across to Lily, and one thing that the Healer said stood out to her in particular; "Earlier on it was just a suggestion Mr. Snape, but now Potter's survival may well depend upon your cooperation!"

That simple sentence caused Lily's heart to skip a beat, deciding the time had come to make her presence known, she moved tentatively towards the arguing couple. The matron still had her back turned, so Severus spotted her approaching first. He stopped arguing with the Healer and stood there gaping stupidly at her. Forcing himself to look away from the girl he still loved; he bitterly told Madam Pomfrey; "Alright fine, I'll do what I can to help!" then he stormed out of the infirmary without another word.

The Healer was stunned, what on earth had made the stubborn boy change his mind? Only when she turned and saw Lily standing there did she understand his reasoning. Even she was aware that Lily Evans was the only person in the school for whom Snape would do absolutely anything. She was brought out of her reverie by Lily's voice; it sounded timid and scared.

"Madam Pomfrey, how is James doing?" The matron shook her head gravely; "He's not well at all I'm afraid, Miss Evans! His hallucinations have now led him to firmly believe I am his mother; also he hasn't been able to keep any nourishment down in the past three days, which is the smallest part of the problem. It is however a serious matter, that he's allergic to the normal Fever potion, that is why I requested Severus Snape to attempt brewing an alternative. "

Lily nodded absently, that would explain Snape's fury; he really did hate every fiber of James Potters' being! As hard as she tried to banish it, as she stood there Lily couldn't help but see Snape's face swimming before her eyes, every inch of it contorted in hatred and fury. After taking one last look at James' sleeping form, she made up her mind and set off in search of Severus Snape.

Severus bolted from the infirmary as soon as he saw _her_, ever since the incident in fifth year they had been on less than friendly terms. Potter's hatred of him had also seemed to intensify that day, yet now Madam Pomfrey expected him, Snape, to help _precious_ Potter; the very idea was laughable! If only he hadn't looked up, then he wouldn't have seen the fear and concern in Lily's eyes.

That was what melted his resolve not to help Potter; now he was doing it only to give Lily peace of mind. Did this mean that a part of him still cared about her? The answer was clear; he cared about her feelings more than a little bit; no matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise!

Severus was brought out of his bitter musings by someone calling his name; "Sev, please wait!" He stopped short, he had heard that voice in his dreams most nights since fifth year, but was it real this time? Hardly daring to breathe, he turned around; sure enough Lily was hurtling towards him, her beautiful red hair flying in all directions, due to the break-neck speed at which she was running.

When she realized he had actually stopped, she skidded to a halt in front of him, gasping for breath as she did so. When she recovered, she looked him directly in the eye, causing his heart to give a painful twinge; her gorgeous eyes which had always held him spellbound, were pleading silently with him.

He tried to say something, but his throat felt like it had constricted. He knew perfectly well what she wanted him to do, but putting aside his major grudge against Potter was another matter all together. Finally, he looked away from the emerald depths of her mesmerizing eyes and mumbled; "I'm doing this only for you Lily! I love you!"

If she was shocked by his confession, she didn't show it. For a moment she seemed to struggle internally with her feelings; then she shot him a grateful smile, which he mentally recorded as the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

While he knew perfectly well, that he'd ruined their friendship beyond repair two years previously, at that moment in time, Lily's gratitude meant more to him than anything in the world and if brewing a potion for James Potter was what it took for Lily to show him any sign of affection; then that was what he'd do! Admittedly, he'd be sorely tempted to poison the stupid potion, but he wouldn't do that, because he wanted Lily to be happy and she seemed to feel her happiness now lay with Potter.

Meanwhile, back in the hospital wing, James was awake once more. Of course with the effect his temperature was having on him, there was no longer much difference between sleeping and waking, but this time he actually had a vague memory of what had happened in the infirmary since he had last been conscious.

Nonetheless, wanting to confirm his suspicions, James confronted the matron when she next came to check on him; "Madam Pomfrey, was Snape here earlier?" The Healer did not answer immediately; she was momentarily numbed by the relief that he had recognized her at least. When she snapped out of it, he was staring curiously at her; "Yes, he was in fact!" she responded at last.

She frowned disapprovingly at his furious scowl; "Honestly Potter, stop acting so immature. It was with extreme difficulty that I convinced him to help you and I will not let you jeopardize your own health because of a trivial schoolboy grudge! Are we understood?"

He nodded, though still scowling; Madam Pomfrey knew it wasn't good for him to be worked up so she cast her mind about, in search of a soothing topic. Before long, the perfect thing came to mind. Grinning in a sly way that no one would have expected possible of Poppy Pomfrey, she said; "And so was Miss Evans!"

The reaction was immediate; James' eyes lit up and he only managed to stutter; "W-What? Are you serious, Madam Pomfrey?" She laughed at how flustered he became at the mere mention of Lily; "Yes Potter, I promise you I'm completely serious!"

After that, the goofy, lopsided grin refused to leave his face; "Lily, oh wow _Lily_!" he whispered to himself, completely awe-struck. As if to turn the daydreams of his one and only love into a reality, Sirius walked in at that moment, also grinning broadly. "Oh good Prongs, you're awake! I hope you're feeling better, because I've got a surprise for you that will require full consciousness!"

Madam Pomfrey bustled into the room just then; she smiled at Sirius and he winked conspicuously, which was what really aroused James' suspicions. What could Sirius possibly have planned which the staid matron had agreed to? Thoroughly confused now, he turned, looked skeptically at his best friend and said; "I feel fine Padfoot, the bigger question is; what the hell is going on here?"

Sirius merely smirked and walked out of the hospital wing ignoring James' indignant cries; "_Hey_! Come back here Padfoot, where do you think you're going?" Seconds later, his voice cracked and he was overcome by a coughing fit. Conjuring a glass of water out of nowhere, the matron handed it to him and said sternly; "Potter, if I've told you once then I've told you a hundred times! Stop getting so worked up, it's not good for your health!"

James glared at her while he downed the entire glass of water, then he whined; "But Madam Pomfrey, you have no idea what Sirius is like, tempting someone with a so called surprise and then leaving them hanging, it's just wrong!"

"I can vouch for the fact that he actually has honest intentions this time!" she declared firmly before pushing him back against his fluffy pillows and adding; "But he won't be back for a while, so for now I want you to rest and don't argue!" Sulkily James gave in to her wishes and leaned back, pouting in a comical manner.

Sirius meanwhile had run back to the common room as quickly as possible; he was truly proud of himself. It turned out Lily had just needed a little encouragement from him, in order to overcome her fear of visiting James. He sympathized with the girl for getting all her guts together once, only to walk in on such an ugly argument, but he was glad she had agreed to make a surprise appearance for James now.

In his excitement and haste he tumbled through the portrait hole, straight into Lily who'd been waiting on the other side. She got to her feet with a groan, rubbing her hip which had hit the stone floor when she fell. "Can't you watch where you're going Black!" she snapped irritably. But Sirius wasn't listening, at the sight of her he said impatiently; "Come on Lil, I've talked to James already, he's waiting!"

In a split second, Lily's expression went from annoyed to fearful; "You couldn't have given me a better warning I suppose?" she asked bitterly. He simply shook his head; "No I couldn't have, stop acting so silly Evans! You know, all I said to him was that I had a surprise for him and then I left, straight away. He won't figure out the plan don't worry!"

Lily smiled in spite of herself; "You know Sirius, sometimes I think you don't give your friend enough credit! He's no fool, I'm sure he knows by now that I'm the surprise." Sirius rolled his eyes; "I'm telling you Lily, the only way he'll find out before you actually materialize in front of him, is if Madam Pomfrey tells him about the plan, now let's go please!"

"Fine!" she said, somewhat reluctantly and he grabbed her arm and dragged her through the portrait hole. She pulled out of his grasp at once; "I am capable of walking by myself, Black!" Reluctantly he kept his hands off her and merely urged her to move faster. All too soon in Lily's opinion, they reached the hospital wing; Sirius shot her one last encouraging smile, before pushing the doors open.

The first thing they saw was the very aggravated matron, who was trying and failing to make James keep calm. "Potter, will you please relax! He'll come soon, but you're getting over-excited and that will make the fever worse again!"

"Wait here" Sirius told Lily in an undertone, before moving into James' line of vision. "Hey Prongs, the fun has arrived!" Even from where she stood, Lily clearly heard a snarl which was followed by James' voice; "Fun my foot, would you care to explain why you disappeared like that Sirius Orion Black!"

Sirius merely chuckled; "Oh Prongsie, I'm betting with you right now, you won't be angry once you see your fabulous surprise!" Then came the words Lily had been dreading; "Miss Surprise, that's your cue!" With a nervous gulp, she too left the safety of the shadows and stopped at a safe distance from James' bed. The latter rubbed his eyes disbelievingly and mumbled something that sounded like; "I have _got_ to be hallucinating again, this is too amazing to be real!"

He looked at Sirius pleadingly, in a way that said; "Bring me back to reality mate, this is so perfect it isn't fair!" But Sirius just grinned and said; "I solemnly swear that you are _not_ hallucinating at this moment in time Prongs!" Lily knew she had to move closer in order to convince James that he wasn't dreaming. Slowly she approached the bed and said gently; "This isn't a dream James, I promise you I'm really here!"

Gradually he met her gaze and she felt her heart break at the amount of pain reflected in his eyes. Slowly, as if it was a struggle to get the words out, he said; "But Lily, why would you come up here? You hate me!" She looked pained for a moment; she couldn't deny that she had said she hated him in anger at the Quidditch party, but the fact was; she hadn't meant a word of what she had yelled at him that night.

"I know you probably won't believe this, but I didn't mean what I said that day at the party! I'm really sorry for what I said!" she said quietly, unable to meet his gaze now. An awkward silence followed, because apparently he couldn't look at her either. What seemed like an eternity later, she decided enough was enough and reached for his hand, having sat down beside him on the bed.

"Hey it took a lot of nerve for me to come up here, can you at least look at me, Jamie?" she asked teasingly, even as she wondered why on earth she had just called him by a nickname which was kind of cute, but which she highly doubted anyone had used on him before.

If only she had turned around, she would have seen Sirius shaking his head violently at that simple sentence. She found out the hard way, that that particular nickname evidently had deeper meaning to James. The instant she finished her sentence, he gasped and moaned; "Ah! No please not Jamie! Call me anything you like except Jamie, I beg of you!"

Before she could do more than wonder why a simple name got him so worked up, he turned away again and buried his head in his pillow, so that muffled sobs were all she could hear. She gaped and turned helplessly to Sirius, asking him with her eyes only, what she had done wrong. He gestured mutely at the door, indicating he would explain once they were safely outside, apparently he felt speechless while in the same room as his upset best friend.

Luckily, Madam Pomfrey arrived on the scene at that moment, so they could leave, knowing that James was in safe hands.

The moment they were out of the door, Lily asked carefully; "What did I say that was so terrible Sirius?" He hesitated for a split second, before replying in a subdued voice; "Mrs. Potter was the only one who ever called him Jamie!" A look of realization dawned in her eyes and she looked guilty; "It's so strange you know; I've never cared what James thought of me before, even though he always loved me but now, just when I was determined to be a source comfort, I hurt him the most!"

Sirius put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly; "No Lily, don't go blaming yourself for what happened back there! How could you have known that only his mother called him Jamie?" She nodded sadly; "I couldn't have known that, but I still feel bad!"

"You can make it up to him tomorrow", Sirius reassured her soothingly. Just then they reached the foot of the seventh floor staircase and were distracted by the raised voices in the distance; "No Snape, I don't know where Lily is, now go away!"

Lily gulped, that was definitely Alice's voice, what was going on? She broke into a run with Sirius following right behind her; finally the portrait hole came into view, as well as the two people standing in front of it, arguing heatedly: Alice and Severus!

Skidding to a halt beside her friend, Lily gasped; "What's going on here, Al?" Alice scowled and pointed at Snape; "_He_ was looking for you and kept pestering me even though I really had no idea where you were?" Suddenly she looked thoughtful and added; "Where were you anyway?"

Lily blushed and said in an undertone; "I was in the hospital wing with James." Alice beamed; both she and Lily completely ignored the pained moan coming from Severus' direction. Finally Lily noticed that he still hadn't moved; "Did you want something,_ Snape_?" she asked coldly.

He merely held a vial filled with a bright yellow liquid out to her and said evenly; "The potion is ready, but there is no way I'm delivering it! Here, you visit Potter all the time, take it with you next time!" She took it without a word, glaring at him all the while and then he left in a huff.

Lily turned to Sirius, who had uncharacteristically watched the entire conversation without a word. She admired his self-control, even as she watched he was grinding his teeth and clenching his fists angrily, but for once he hadn't laid a finger on Snape. She supposed it had something to do with the fact that the latter was helping James, whom Sirius cared about very much, to recover.

Gently, she reached for his hand; "Well done for keeping your temper under control Sirius!" He looked at her and seemed to calm down slightly; "I swear Lils, the only thing that was keeping me from beating that git to pulp, was the thought that James needs his skills, rather unfortunate really!"

She nodded understandingly, smiling slightly; "Even so, I'm glad you could control that particular urge!" He just took a deep breath and entered the common room without looking back. Lily looked at her watch and started, it was nearing eleven o' clock at night already. "Oh my, Al it's so late already, let's hit the hay!"

Her friend nodded and led the way to the girl's dorms. As they ascended the stairs, Alice asked; "How did it go anyway?" Lily didn't need to ask what she meant. For a moment, an image of James in tears flashed before her eyes and then she replied in a subdued voice; "I managed to hurt him again! I tell you, it was horrible!"

Alice looked startled for a moment and then she asked in a genuinely curious voice; "How did you manage to do that? The last I heard, Sirius was taking you to the hospital wing as a surprise for James, am I missing something here?" Lily shook her head sadly and recounted every miserable detail of her evening, by the time she was finished Alice could only look on sympathetically, for once she had no idea what to say that would help her friend to feel better.

Finally she said slowly; "Well then, you have to go back tomorrow and apologize again!" Lily sighed, she seemed to be doing nothing but apologizing to James for something or other nowadays, darn conscience!

The next morning, Lily awoke even earlier than usual. She'd been plagued by thoughts of the distress she'd left James in the previous day the entire night. Feeling extremely grateful that it was Saturday, she got dressed quietly and grabbed the new fever potion from her dresser. The least she could do for upsetting him the previous day was to lessen the discomfort which the fever brought with it.

She left Alice a quick note explaining where she'd gone and left the dorm hurriedly. This time, for some strange unknown reason, she didn't feel anywhere near as nervous as she had on previous occasions. Today she was filled with more guilt than anything else. She practically ran to the hospital wing, only slowing down when she reached it. Cautiously she pushed the sturdy doors open and entered.

Madam Pomfrey was already doing her rounds, administering various medicines and potions when she came in. Very suddenly feeling wary, she hesitated in the doorway until she was spotted by the Healer. "Good morning Miss Evans, what brings you here so early on a Saturday?" she asked.

Lily couldn't meet her eye, while staring at the ground she said; "I couldn't sleep, I kept thinking about what happened here yesterday" she mumbled trying not to turn red at the knowing look Madam Pomfrey was giving her. "Would you care to explain to me _what _went on here yesterday? All I witnessed was Potter crying about something and he refused to tell me what happened between you! He's clammed up completely and whatever is bothering him has brought the fever back in full force."

Utterly frustrated at having to repeat herself to so many people, Lily recounted the previous night's events to the matron. Feeling the need to for redemption once she was finished, she handed over the vial to the relieved medi-witch. "Oh good, this is highly needed right now!"

She took the vial and proceeded to wake James, who was the only patient still asleep. Lily kept her distance and watched him apprehensively. He moaned as he matron shook him gently; "Wake up Potter, the fever potion is ready!" Lily had just started having second thoughts about staying, when he opened his eyes, thereby canceling out the option of leaving. She couldn't leave him in the lurch again, not after what she'd said yesterday.

Once James got his bearings, he looked around and said to the Healer; "Madam Pomfrey, what is _she_ doing here!" He pointed a shaking finger at Lily and she couldn't tell if he felt hurt or angry right now, the only thing she knew for certain was that he definitely wasn't pleased to see her.

Madam Pomfrey however, wasn't at all fazed by his anger and said calmly; "She was worried about you, now stop pointing your finger so accusingly at her and drink this!" She held a glassful of the new potion out to him, but he blatantly ignored it since he was far too busy glaring at Lily. She shuffled her feet nervously, being fixed with such a mixed look of hurt and anger from those intense eyes of his, was decidedly not a pleasant experience.

Unable to bear it, she took to examining her own two feet, until Madam Pomfrey spoke to her; "Miss Evans, I would like to force-feed only as a last resort, would you attempt to make him drink the potion please?"

Cursing herself for being helpful by nature, she nodded and took the vial from the matron. "I have a lot of work to do, call me if you require assistance!" said the Healer before going towards her office and leaving Lily alone with James, who was now refusing to look at her.

After a tense silence that seemed to last an eternity, Lily finally took a tentative step towards him. Her voice shook slightly as she pleaded; "James, please drink the potion, you need it to get better!" He shook his head stubbornly and snapped; "Don't pretend like you care if I get better or not, because I know you don't give a damn what happens to me! Anyway, I happen to know _Snivellous _made that potion, which means it's probably poisoned!"

Lily glared at him; she hadn't realized what a stubborn idiot he could be. "Would I be here trying to convince you to drink this if I didn't care about you?" she reasoned. He was looking the other way again, finally Lily had had enough and she turned and stormed towards Madam Pomfrey's office.

The matron was doing some paperwork when she entered, nearly in tears by this time, Lily choked out; "James Potter is officially a stubborn git, he refused to take the potion from me, I'm sorry!" With those words she turned and ran from the infirmary, so that she could let her pent-up misery out in the safety of common room.

Luckily there weren't too many people in the common room when she got there, in fact, by some miracle, the only people in sight were the ones who's support she really needed right now; Alice and Sirius. The moment she entered the room, the tears began leaking from her eyes. Almost at once, Alice approached her; "Oh my god, Lily what happened? Please say something!"

Lily looked into her friend's concerned eyes and choked out a single word; "James!" before dissolving in tears in Alice' arms. She didn't need to say more for her friend to understand, still holding Lily tightly, Alice beckoned to Sirius. "Sirius, just look what your best friend has done to mine!"

The latter looked shocked; "Lily, what did he say?" Taking a deep breath, Lily forced herself to quote James exactly. By the end of it, she was sobbing again, asking them both; "How can he possibly think I don't care about him?"

Neither of them knew what to say, in actual fact Sirius could have thought of a million reasons James had not to trust Lily, but to voice them right now would be the most tactless thing he could possibly do. Instead he said gently; "Don't worry Lils, Remus and I will talk to him! If I know James, which I do, he will have taken the medicine by now and I'm sure he regrets what he said to you!"

The events going on in the hospital wing at that precise time, only served to prove that Sirius did indeed know James very well. After losing patience and resorting to force-feeding, Madam Pomfrey told him what he had said according to Lily. Filled with painful remorse, the first thing he had tried to do was escape from the hospital so he could apologize to her. Needless to say, the watchful matron had put a stop to that plan almost at once.

"Don't be silly Potter! You may not have the cough anymore, but you have to stay here till I'm certain that the fever potion has taken effect! If she comes back here then fine, but _you_ are not leaving this bed!" He scowled even though he knew she was right and was reduced to asking himself how he could have said something so awful to _Lily_, whom he loved more than anything.

Not long after this, Sirius and Remus arrived on the scene to try and cheer up their highly depressed best friend. Sirius never revealed the actual reason he asked Remus to come, but in actual fact, it was because he couldn't handle emotions in overdrive as well as the latter could. Almost as soon as they arrived, they realized that reasoning with James at this point would be fruitless; the only thing that would comfort him now was reconciliation with Lily. Getting the latter to visit him again, after all the negative experiences she'd had in the infirmary however, was another matter altogether.

"Don't do this to yourself Prongs, you weren't thinking straight when you said all those things to Lily!" the two boys tried to reassure their moping friend. It evidently didn't work, because he shot back; "But guys, _she_ thinks I meant every word! Madam Pomfrey told me how close to tears Lily was when she came to her and that's entirely my fault! I love her so much, how is it that I always end up hurting her?"

Neither of them knew what to say to that, after an awkward silence, Remus said slowly; "You know Prongs, I think your only choice is to hope she comes back and then apologize! We certainly can't force her into coming back; you just have to hope she cares enough to return."

James rolled his eyes; "Thanks Moony, that really helps me feel better, _not_! She'll never come back, she'll hate me forever now, I'm sure of it!" Sirius couldn't help but sigh at that, he was definitely getting a sense of déjà vu now, because those had been Lily's exact words a few days ago, according to Alice.

Feeling completely miserable, James looked away, giving Sirius the chance to whisper unseen to Remus; "Keep him occupied for a few minutes Moony, I'll be right back!" Before Remus could protest, he was gone.

Sirius ran to the library, hoping against hope that she'd still be there. He had a plan but her cooperation was required. Luckily, she was indeed there, surrounded by a mountain of books. Cautiously he approached her table and asked; "Lily? Will you come with me please?"

When she looked up, the first thing he noticed was how red her eyes were; "No Sirius, I have so much work to do, I can't afford to go anywhere right now!" she said flatly. He wouldn't have any of that, he'd had just about enough of Lily and James' stupid misunderstandings and he vowed even as he pulled her to her feet, to get them together at all costs.

"Hey! Sirius Black let go of me right now!" she protested as he dragged her away. "No Lily, I gave the choice to come with me of your own free will, but since you refused it has to be this way!" he answered firmly. Giving up the fight, Lily began to feel a bit scared. There was no doubt in her mind where they were headed but she didn't feel at all ready for it.

"Sirius is this really necessary right now?" she asked, hoping her tone made it clear just how reluctant she was to do this. He merely nodded; "Yes it is James won't relax until he's apologized to you Lil!" She looked surprised for a moment, before she recovered her voice and exclaimed; "_What_! You have got to be kidding me Black, _he _wants to apologize?"

"Of course he does, contrary to your belief; he's human and therefore knows when something is his fault! You don't seem to realize how guilty he felt for hurting you, that's what I've been trying to convince you of this whole time!"

He stopped speaking abruptly as they reached the hospital wing. The voices of James and Remus could just be heard behind the doors. They both looked up as Sirius made his entrance followed by an uncharacteristically timid Lily. Sirius beckoned to Remus; "Come on Moony, these two have got to work out their differences once and for all!"

Remus got up and followed him out, not at all reluctant to leave. For the past ten minutes he'd had to listen to James moping without a clue what he could say to cheer him up. He certainly pitied Lily right now.

Once their friends had gone, an awkward silence reigned in the room. Finally James patted the space on the bed next to him and said quietly; "Come here please Lils!" She gulped, but found herself obeying against her will. There was even something apologetic in the way he said it, that made her want to listen to him.

Once she was comfortably seated beside him, he reached for her hand and said; "Lily, I-I'm so sorry for what I said this morning! Please believe me when I say I didn't mean it, please!" Only when she heard his pleading tone, followed by extremely real tears, did it hit home to her how sincere he was.

Gently she forced him to meet her gaze; "I believe you James, don't worry we all say things we don't really mean at times! While we're apologizing, I need to get this of my conscience; I'm sorry for turning you down at the Quidditch party, I didn't think it would affect you like this because I didn't know about your parents at the time! So basically I'm sorry for making your life even more difficult!"

By the time she was done, James was no longer looking at her. Lily supposed the mention of his parents must have upset him further and she wasn't disappointed, the next time he looked up, his eyes were full of tears and he simply said; "I miss them so much!" before rolling over and sobbing quietly, not caring that she was still there.

Lily was glad he'd opened up to her, as she stayed right there with him, rubbing his back and whispering words of comfort. Finally, his sobs subsided and he said in a voice filled with wonder; "Wow, you really do care!" she smiled and said; "Of course I do, I promise I'll always be here for you!"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then he said; "Lils?" "Hm?" she responded. "Would this be a bad time to ask you to be my girlfriend?" he asked curiously. She gaped at him, completely speechless; "James Potter you are unbelievable!" she exclaimed incredulously at last. "That doesn't answer my question" he reminded her with a small smile. Suddenly he could only look on disbelievingly, normally that question warranted a negative answer straight away, but now Lily appeared to be deep in thought.

The cogs were indeed turning over in Lily's mind. She was forced to admit, there was something different about the way he'd asked her today than usual. She had even given a fairly standard answer to his frequently asked question, yet instead of a cheeky, arrogant comeback, she got a_ smile_ of all things! She really did care about him and what better way to show than agree to be his girlfriend. Having thought all this through, yet still wondering why the hell she was feeling this way, she said; "Yes, I will be your girlfriend!"

At first he could only stare at her in surprise, but then he gave in to the sudden urge to kiss her. At first she was too shocked to act but she opened her mouth slightly, eagerly letting him in. He pulled her into a hug, grinning goofily all the while. When they surfaced from their first passionate kiss for air, the moment was shattered by Madam Pomfrey; "Excuse me, but this is a hospital! Potter please restrain such actions until you are discharged and Miss Evans I think you should leave now!"

Lily giggled in an embarrassed kind of way and said hurriedly; "Sorry Madam Pomfrey! See you tomorrow James, bye!" with that she ran from the infirmary, leaving James to get a lecture about hospital etiquette.

As soon as she reached the common room, she pounced on Alice, who had been quietly reading in a corner; "Hey! Lily, what the hell are you doing?" When she noticed the uncharacteristic shy grin on her friends' face, she knew instantly Lily must have big news, so she pulled her to the girls' dorms where they'd have privacy.

"What happened?" she asked with urgent curiosity the instant they reached upstairs. "I kissed him!" said Lily in a rush. Alice looked confused; "Who, James?" Lily frowned and said sarcastically; "No, Peter Pettigrew, of course James silly!"

Alice grinned at her; "That's great Lil, I'm so happy for you! Have you told Sirius and Remus yet?" She shook her head and said; "I also agreed to be his girlfriend, I can't believe he's changed so much Allie! I'm telling you he actually gave a _nice_ smile when he asked me, not a cheeky smirk for once!"

Alice shook her head in mild exasperation; "I've been trying to tell you that for months!" she declared. Lily smiled and said; I'll see you later Al, I have to tell Sirius about this!" Her friend nodded as Lily raced down the stairs still grinning broadly.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Lily paused; the fact that she had no idea where Sirius or Remus were had just occurred to her. She couldn't know that they were in fact, with James at that very moment getting the same story she had told Alice, from his perspective. She also didn't know that they were both thanking her inwardly for putting the smile back on James' face.

He was discharged the following day and Lily became an integral part of the Marauders from that day onwards. She kept her promise and was indeed always there for James when he needed her, so much so, that they ended up married much to the amusement of any of their old professors who were invited to the wedding. As if to complete the picture of perfection, they had a son, whom they named Harry, not long after; never suspecting what an early end their blissful existence was destined to meet, and of course the rest is history.

A/N That is the longest "one-shot" I've ever written I hope you enjoyed it, because I'm certainly proud of it! That brings me to the usual request, please review; I thrive on feedback and I'd like to know if you thought it was good bad or ugly! Any comments are appreciated, but I think I'll shut up now and let you all decide for yourselves if it's worth that moment of your time which it takes to review! I love you all!

Hugs, Lily Marie Evans Potter


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